Modern-day golf clubs of the driver type are precision instruments required to satisfy the needs of amateur and professional golfers who are ever more demanding in their requirements for better clubs.
Currently, high quality drivers and the like have their heads formed of natural persimmon or other high quality hard woods either in solid or laminated form without compression to increase density. Such hard wood club heads require machining to accept a sole plate commonly employed for weighting and to improve scuff-resistance and require further machining on the striking face to permit attaching thereto a hard phenolic or other plastic insert. Such insert forms the striking surface of the finished club head and the insert, as well as the sole plate, is attached by means of screws which penetrate the wood of the head. Additional weighting of the club head with metal to achieve proper balance and weight distribution can be done in a number of ways, as by filling an additional recess immediately above the sole plate with lead or the like.
The above traditional features in today's clubs render them very costly and still fail to satisfy completely the demand for a club having better controllability, balance and striking efficiency. Many golfers, including professionals, search ceaselessly for a driver which presents the proper "feel" and operational efficiency which they seek, and some golfers complain that they can never find what they consider to be the ideal club to suit their particular needs.
It is, therefore, the object of this invention to more completely satisfy this need for a better and more efficient club of the driver type without increasing its manufacturing cost, and, to the contrary, simplifying considerably the manufacturing process for the club.
A further object of the invention is to provide a club head formed entirely of wood without the necessity of employing any metal attachments or inserts whatsoever unless, for example, a sole plate might be desired in some instances for appearance sake and to protect the sole of the club from direct ground contact during its use.
A further object is to eliminate the need for the customary phenolic insert on the striking face of the club and, in lieu thereof, to form the entire striking face from very hard densified wood of uniform hardness and strength.
Most importantly, it is an object of the invention to provide a golf club of the type mentioned whose head can be weighted and balanced with greater precision and by less costly methods than those currently practiced.
In accordance with the main essence of the invention, a club head body portion formed of natural hard wood without compression or densifying is provided with an angled face to which is attached adhesively a wedge component completing the formation of the club head. The wedge component is formed entirely of very hard compressed and densified laminated wood whose veneers are pre-weighed to control weight with precision during compression. The utilization of the compressed densified laminated wood component enables locating the center of gravity of the club head close to the point of impact with a golf ball, which in turn makes for better controllability of the club with less tendency for the club to twist or distort under impact.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.